The Secret To Breaking Bad Habits In The New Year

Nearly half of all Americans make a New Year’s resolution at the turn of each year, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychology. While many of the most popular hinge on establishing new behaviors (exercise more, eat better, see friends), several others involve breaking bad habits. Millions will resolve to quit smoking, reduce stress, limit spending or stop procrastinating.

The problem? “Normally they don’t work,” says psychologist Jeremy Dean, author of upcoming book Making Habits, Breaking Habits, citing a study in which 60% of resolvers admitted they’d failed to make a change last for six months. “Of the 40% that claimed they’d succeeded, a good percentage was probably lying. I’ve seen people break resolutions in minutes.”

Dean says habits are so difficult to break because most of our behavior is automatic, like programmed software running in our unconscious. “If we didn’t learn to do things automatically, life would be exhausting,” he says. We’d have to actively decide which side of bed to get up on, whether to put on slippers, whether to have coffee or tea. All of these behaviors occur seamlessly throughout the day, so we can focus on higher-level decisions.

In order to break a bad habit or establish a new one, Dean believes it’s critical to understand your brain’s processing system and work with it rather than against it. And, unfortunately, it will likely take longer than you’d expect. Although many experts insist that it takes only three weeks to make a behavior routine, research shows that in reality it’s highly variable and depends on your personality and the difficulty of the task. Quitting smoking or creating a new exercise routine may take six months to a year, Dean says.

Examine The Situational And Emotional Context

“All of our habits are keyed into situations and emotional routines,” says Dean. The first step to changing a behavior is to examine its context. When, where, how, why and with whom do you perform the habit? If you hope to reduce your alcohol consumption, for example, you may notice that the primary time you overindulge is at after-work social gatherings, triggered by emotional cues like wanting to unwind or get along with others. Armed with this new understanding, you can create strategies to change the pattern.

Replace The Bad Habit With A Good Habit

It’s much easier to replace a bad habit with a better habit than to attempt to stop cold turkey, Dean says. It’s akin to taking baby steps, requiring less mental effort to change a pattern slightly rather than reconstruct it entirely. Say, for example, you want to stop eating processed sweets, but you routinely have a rich dessert every night after dinner. Despite that you want to be healthier, that craving is going to come and be hard to avoid. Instead of denying it, have fresh fruit or a sugar-free alternative.

Don’t Suppress Thoughts About The Bad Habit

Most people attempting to change a behavior try to banish it from their thoughts. However, Dean says this strategy is so ineffective that there’s a psychological term for it: ironic processing theory. Essentially, when you try not to think about something, the brain starts to monitor the thought and whether it’s intruding, making it even more persistent. “If a person says to themselves, ‘I must not think about cake,’ all they think about is cake,” says Dean. “They start seeing it everywhere.”

Change Your Environment Or Routine

When people move into a new home or experience a major new life event, like having a baby, their habits are more likely to change, says Dean. That’s because new situations force you to think more consciously about your behaviors and choices. Of course, you can’t move every time you want to break a habit, but you can alter your routine or environment in order to challenge your habits. For example, if you’re an impulse spender who often shops on your lunch break, try eating a bagged lunch at your desk and then hitting the gym. This way you’ve removed yourself from a shopping environment, and replaced the bad habit with a good habit.

Prepare Distractions

Most people overestimate their willpower. “Self-control is a limited resource,” says Dean. Instead of relying on willpower alone, he advises preparing distractions for when you find yourself incredibly tempted. If you’re trying to quit smoking, you may decide that when you have a craving you will distract yourself by calling up a friend, taking a 10-minute walk or listening to an inspirational song. Then, continually repeat the good behaviors and avoid the bad ones until you have established a new, better habit.

I spent five years at Forbes writing about business and leadership, attracting nearly one million unique visitors to Forbes.com each month. While here, I assistant edited the annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women package and helped launch and grow ForbesWoman.com. I've app...